If you would like to commemorate the day in your workplace, our one hour Women’s Health Masterclass is a perfect way to provide your employees with information and encouragement to find better balance in their lives.

Topics covered in our Women’s Health session include:

Balancing female sex hormones naturally

Fertility

Menopause

Women’s nutrition

Gut Health

Immune system

Healthy fats

Exercise and strength building

Mindfulness

Finding Balance

The Women’s Health Masterclass is presented by our functional medicine practitioner, women’s hormone specialist, nutritionist and author Ms Alli Godbold, who has over 20 years’ experience in working with women to help them achieve good health and balance.

Smartphones, computers, laptops, tablets, readers, televisions – do you spend too much time staring at a screen? Join the club! The average British office worker spends up to 12.5 hours a day at work and home gazing into a variety of screens.

Is that too much? Hell yes!

And if your employees are expected to multitask media – switching between multiple screens – as a part of their job, you could be subjecting them to long-term memory problems, attention deficit disorders and impaired dopamine function. A ticking timebomb for employers.

This workshop takes place in your office and is a 60-minute session offering participants the facts and solutions for reducing the impact of screen-based technology on mental, physical and social health. We pay special attention to the dangers of multitasking media, and offer a wide range of tips, techniques and advice for protecting the wellbeing of your employees from this massive 21st century health concern.

Our next Mental Health First Aid training course takes place in central London on 2nd and 3rd July 2018.

This two day training course is accredited by MHFA England, and all delegates will become certified Mental Health First Aiders in their workplace.

Mental Health First Aiders have:

An in-depth understanding of mental health and the factors that can affect wellbeing

Practical skills to spot the triggers and signs of mental health issues

Confidence to step in, reassure and support a person in distress

Enhanced interpersonal skills such as non-judgemental listening

Knowledge to help someone recover their health by guiding them to further support

We limit numbers to 16 people per course, and the course on 2nd and 3rd July will include participants from a number of different companies.

The mental health first aid training course is enlightening, eye opening, informative and enjoyable. Everyone who completes the course gets an MHFA manual to keep and refer to whenever they need it, and a certificate to say they are a Mental Health First Aider.

The course will run from 9.30am to 5pm on both Monday 2nd and Tuesday 3rd July 2018, and will be facilitated by our fully qualified and highly experienced MHFA trainer.

The location is London Blackfriars, a short walk from the tube and overground stations.

The price is £350 per delegate.

Please get in touch if you’d like more information or to book onto the Mental Health First Aid training course: lou@mindfulnessintheworkplace.org

Our mind is at the very centre of who we are and how we relate to others. Our mental health doesn’t leave itself at the door when we arrive at work. It shapes who we are as employees as well as in our wider lives.

Some people naturally cope well with the structure of working life, and some people need more guidance in order to reach their potential and thrive at work and in life.

How do we support and guide employees who are struggling with their emotional or mental health? What should we say and what support is there for people who need more psychological help than we can offer?

We invite you to join our two-day certified Mental Health First Aid training course, for a small group of 10 delegates, in central London on 6th and 7th June 2018.

An in depth understanding of adult mental health and the factors that can affect wellbeing

Practical skills to spot the triggers and signs of mental health issues

Confidence to step in, reassure and support a person in distress

Enhanced interpersonal skills such as non-judgemental listening

Knowledge to help someone recover their health by guiding them to further support

Learning takes place across four manageable sessions across two days. Through a mix of group activities, presentations and discussions, each session is built around a Mental Health First Aid action plan. The course will be run by our certified and highly experienced MHFA trainer, David Robinson.

The course is over two full days, 6th and 7th June from 9.30am to 5pm. The cost is £350 per delegate.

Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to book yourself or any colleagues onto the course.

We also offer a range of one hour workshops for line managers or for your wider group of employees:

Improving Mental Health is a 60 minute session which educates and enables employees to improve and maintain their own mental wellbeing and the basics of supporting others.

Reducing Stress and Enhancing Resilience is a 60 minute session about short term stress, chronic long term stress, tips and techniques to reduce stress and how to be more resilient to stress.

Digital Detox is a 60 minute session about the downsides of overexposure to screen-based technology and its impact on stress, anxiety and overall mental health, methods and ideas for taking time off screens, and how to have a regular digital detox.

We have a very large range of workshops, courses and sessions across mental health, physical health and nutrition. Please contact us at hello@mindfulnessintheworkplace.org to find out more.

Stress and anxiety dramatically reduce an individual’s ability to make decisions, to concentrate and be creative. Stress-related mental health problems are on the rise across the UK and indeed across the whole world. Stress also has an impact on our physical wellbeing.

The increasingly blurred boundaries between our work and our private lives, exacerbated by technology, has resulted in an ‘always on’ culture that is having a major impact our personal levels of stress and anxiety.

Mindfulness is one of the best tools we have for reducing stress and anxiety. It helps us to process our thoughts and emotions, switches down the stress response system and gives us a chance to be calm. Regular mindfulness meditation increases the ability to plan, to make decisions, to be creative, to concentrate and also enhances the memory. Crucially, it also helps to moderate stressful emotions such as fear, anger, sadness, shame, embarrassment, frustration, irritation, guilt etc.

The Introduction to Mindfulness workshop is an experiential session that shows employees how to use mindfulness to improve mental wellbeing. We also offer comprehensive mindfulness courses and mindfulness drop-in sessions in your workplace.

Take Regular Breaks

Taking breaks throughout the working day is vital for reducing stress. Take a few minutes every couple of hours to stretch out tension your shoulders, arms, chest and legs, and take a few deep breaths.

Take at least 30 minutes outside the office between the hours of 11am and 2pm and get some daylight. Daylight helps to boost serotonin levels – vital for wellbeing and resilience. Leave your phone behind if you can and make this middle of the day break a calm one. Take some time in a park or natural space to watch the world go by, or go for a lunchtime walk, listening to the “Mindful Walking” recording on the Mindfulness UK app.

Take regular breaks from other people, especially if you’re an introvert! Introverts get energy from being alone and are more resilient to stress if they get daily alone-time. Extraverts get energy from being around others, but also benefit from alone time. If you’re an extravert, try to get a couple of hours of alone-time every weekend, but make sure you socialise on a regular basis. Extraverts can feel low if they have too much alone time.

An hour before bedtime, switch off all devices and have some low-light calm time. Once a week, try to leave all your devices at home and go out without them for a few hours. Regular screen-free time can calm the mind and enhance our resilience to stress.

Regular Exercise

Physical exercise is great for reducing stress and enhancing resilience to stress. Exercise sets off a whole set of neurotransmitters in the brain which make us feel well and positive. Ideal forms of exercise are brisk walking for 45 minutes, jogging or running for 25-30 minutes, swimming for 20-30 minutes, or cycling for 30-45 minutes. Do these exercises a few times per week. Muscle toning and anaerobic exercise can stimulate feelings of wellbeing and reward. Try a strength building or a series of sprinting runs once a week. Yoga and stretching exercises are great for reducing anxiety – try a yoga class once or twice a week if you’re anxious.

Recognising our emotions, particularly stress-related emotions, is an important step in the process of reducing stress and anxiety. It’s also important to talk about how we feel on a regular basis. Everyone needs a support network (including men!) to acknowledge and express how we’re feeling. If you have unresolved trauma or stressful experiences in your past, particularly from childhood or adolescence, some sessions with a psychotherapist can help to process the past and move on.

Let us know if you’d like to book some confidential one to one Wellness Sessions in your workplace, with our counselling psychotherapists.

Sleep

Sleep deprivation is a fast-growing problem across the west. Sleep deprivation elevates stress levels by up to 45%. Adults aged 18 to 65 years require 8 hours sleep every 24 hours. If you need to be up at 7am, you should be in bed ready to go to sleep at 11pm. If you need to be up by 6am, you should be in bed ready to go to sleep by 10pm. If you have trouble getting to sleep or sleeping through the night, try the “Preparing For Sleep” meditation on the Mindfulness UK app. It will help you to get to sleep and sleep well through the night.

Our Sleep Clinic workshops teach employees a whole range of tips and techniques to effectively improve the depth and duration of their sleep.

Nutrition and Healthy Eating

Stress can quickly deplete the body of viamins, minerals and other nutrients in the body, so it’s very important to include really well balanced and nutritious food in your daily routine. Optimal levels of vitamins and minerals and healthy fats are vital for getting and staying mentally and physically healthy.

Eat lots of green leafy vegetables in particular, and a colourful variety of fruits (5 portions of veg and 2 portions of fruit per day is idea). Oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines and fresh tuna (not tinned tuna) are great sources of vitamins, minerals and healthy fats. Other healthy fats include extra virgin olive oil, eggs, coconut oil, avocados, nuts and seeds. If you eat bread, pasta, rice, oats and other grains, make sure they are whole grains rather than white or processed grains.

If you have sleep problems or suffer from migraines, think about using a very high quality Magnesium supplement and take it an hour before bed if you have sleep problems.

Low levels of Vitamin D3 (which we get from the sunshine) can contribute to mental health and physical health problems. Vitamin D3 supplements are very useful, especially for cold winter months. Check the Vitamin D Council website for details about how much you should take.

Zinc, Iron and balanced B vitamins are also essential for mental and physical wellbeing. Think about taking a really good quality multivitamin every morning.

Probiotics – the health of the bacteria in your gut has a big impact on mood, mental wellbeing and physical wellbeing. Antibiotics, alcohol, caffeine, aspirin, ibuprofen and other substances can deplete the healthy bacteria in the gut. Replenish your gut with beneficial bacteria by regularly consuming fermented foods such as kimchee, kombucha, kefir, sauerkraut, tempeh, unpasteurised goat’s or sheep’s milk yoghurt, or try a daily probiotic with 30 billion bacteria which you can buy from the refrigerated section of a good quality health food store.

Fun and creativity are important to our mental wellbeing. Try to do something creative at least once a week – drawing, painting, writing, making, playing an instrument, dancing, singing, cooking a special meal or something else creative that you like to do. Achieving small, achievable goals is a great way to fire off the neurotransmitters that make us feel good when we achieve something. Try to achieve a small creative goal once a week. Having fun is also important – playing or watching sport, going to a concert, gig, show, ceremony, party or other event or fun situation that you enjoy, at least once per week.

Please get in touch with nick@mindfulnessintheworkplace.org to discuss our services for improving wellbeing in your workplace.

We questioned employees to find out what are the main stressors in the workplace – the things that stress us out the most at work. Number one was “Email Overload”.

Feeling overwhelmed by a fast-growing inbox can leave us in a state of worry, irritation, frustration, panic. When there is seemingly no end to this major stressor, there’s a danger that chronic stress can set in. Chronic stress is prolonged and with no clear ending. This type of stress can cause anxiety, panic, depression, and can lead to reliance on alcohol and other unhealthy coping strategies. Chronic stress can contribute to physical problems too, such as headaches, migraines, teeth grinding, digestive problems, immune system disorders, high blood pressure and more.

Taking control of your email system and making it efficient and manageable is an absolute priority.

Check out this article by Leadership Thoughts which can help you to create an efficient email system which helps rather than hinders your ability to get your work done.

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an internationally-recognised two day training course, designed to teach people how to spot the signs and symptoms of mental ill health and provide help on a first aid basis.

At Mindfulness In The Workplace, we can provide the Mental Health First Aid training course onsite at your workplace, in four sessions over two days, for groups of six to sixteen participants per training course. Everyone on the course is taught a set of skills which enables them to support anyone who is experiencing mental health issues.

Our fully-qualified and quality-assured Mental Health First Aid instructor delivers the training programme and is accredited by the Royal Society for Public Health.

The training is designed to fit into four manageable chunks of learning:

What is mental health?

Suicide and depression – recognise the signs, first aid for depression, how to help someone who is suicidal

Anxiety, eating disorders and self harm – recognising the signs, first aid, how to help

Psychosis – recognising the signs, first aid for psychosis

The course will teach participants a deeper understanding of all the issues that impact on and relate to people’s mental health; teach practical skills that can be used every day, including being able to spot the signs and symptoms of mental health issues.

Course participants will receive a Mental Health First Aid manual and workbook, along with a certificate confirming they are a trained Mental Health First Aider.

Independent research and evaluation shows that taking part in an Mental Health First Aid course:

Raises mental health awareness

Reduces stigma around mental ill health

Boosts knowledge and confidence in dealing with a person who may be experiencing a mental health issue

Promotes early intervention which enables recovery

If you’d like to arrange a Mental Health First Aid training course for your workplace, please get in touch with Nick Winfield at hello@mindfulnessintheworkplace.org or call 07773 767248.

Long Hours Working Culture – What is the danger, what is the solution?

Those who choose an extreme long-hours working pattern, regularly if not always putting in 60+ hours per week, forfeit many of the basic tenets of wellbeing that enable humans to thrive.

What is the psychological profile of the extreme long-hours employee? What’s the solution for employers who are concerned about the mental, emotional and physical health of these employees?

Long hours working culture tends to be found in certain industries such as finance, law, professional services, media and medicine.

Some extreme long hours workers are the individuals who work quietly on their own, late into the evening, hours after everyone else has left, most nights if not every night. Then there is the other breed of extreme long-hours workers, often staying extremely late alongside and competing with their peers, night after night. These teams of men and women are often encouraged by more senior staff to push out 12-15 hour days, rarely taking a lunch break away from their desk, missing out on the wellbeing initiatives provided by increasingly concerned HR teams.

It can be helpful to understand the possible psychologies behind the type of people who choose the extreme long-hours working pattern, and to know about possible solutions for supporting and providing a duty of care to these individuals.

When people deprive themselves of many, if not all, of these basic human needs due to working 12+ hours per day plus commute time on a regular basis, over time they suffer emotionally, mentally and physically. This is the reality of the men and women in extreme long-hours working patterns.

So what might be driving those who put their basic needs aside for the long hours working culture?

For the late-night lurkers, those individuals who tend to quietly stay extremely late, night after night, the issue might not just be “too much work to do” or “I get more done when there’s no one else in the office”. Often the underlying reason is a desire to avoid relationships at home, perhaps loneliness, or having to go back to an empty home. The workaholic is often someone who wants to be away from difficulties in their personal relationships or is avoiding emotional intimacy with their partner, wife, husband, children or others. Emotional intimacy is often a struggle for people who grew up with little or no emotional intimacy from their own parents or carers. These people often find solace in long working hours, but are likely to be neglecting their own wellbeing.

For those who choose to work in teams and in roles which are notorious for their extreme long-hours working patterns, it is often not just the sky-high salaries and career goals which draw them to the culture and keep them hooked in. Issues around perfectionism, low self-esteem, addictive behaviour, being raised in a household with very high expectations, high stress and anxiety, trauma, alcoholic or emotionally unavailable parents or carers can often lead to a person choosing the extreme long-hours working pattern.

Mental ill health flourishes in high-pressure workplaces where demanding hours and a high workload are the norm. Despite appearing to be highly functioning, driven and fiercely independent individuals, people who fit these patterns are often susceptible to stress-related mental health problems, and rarely seek out emotional support for their vulnerabilities. They are at a significantly high risk for alcohol and drug dependency, sleep disorders, food control issues, anxiety and depression, self harm and other anxiety-related disorders.

Providing support to these valuable, hardworking employees is vital for their own mental and emotional wellbeing. Short and long-term sickness absence, performance management issues, burnout, mental breakdowns and physical health issues all come at a cost to the individual.

It is also crucial for employers to provide the sort of duty of care that will protect the company or firm from the financial risks of stress-related absenteeism, presenteeism and potential litigation.

A solution:

Our company provides confidential, one-to-one Wellness Sessions in the workplace for extreme long-hours workers, and for other potentially vulnerable individuals. Our Wellness Sessions specialists are highly qualified and experienced counselling psychotherapists with training in workplace stress management. We provide these sessions in the workplace in order to effectively meet the needs of extreme long-hours workers who will almost never take time out of the workplace to seek emotional support.

The confidential one-to-one Wellness Sessions take place in a quiet meeting room or office in your workplace, and run for 50 minutes each, usually on a fortnightly or monthly basis.

Many of our clients in finance, law, media, advertising and medicine will make these sessions compulsory for employees who work 60+ hours per week, or for those who are known to be struggling with anxiety, depression or who are returning from stress-related illness.

The Wellness Sessions are a chance for employees to offload to a trustworthy, impartial professional in a completely confidential session. Issues discussed may include self-esteem and perfectionism tendencies, relationship issues inside or outside the workplace, anger, loneliness, stress, anxiety or panic issues (including practical stress management techniques) obsessive compulsive tendencies, alcohol and drug dependency, eating issues, self-care and general emotional support.

Our Wellness Sessions are completely confidential for the employees and also for the companies that hire us to deliver the services. We do not disclose our client list for Wellness Sessions due to the strict interpretation of confidentiality by our governing body, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. All our counselling psychotherapists are BACP registered members and approved by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care.

Please get in touch if you’d like to have a conversation around our confidential one-to-one Wellness Sessions in your workplace and to tackle the dangers of extreme long hours working culture.